The Monk's Powerful Reinforcements

The battle between Tsuna and the Monk continued. Gradually, neither side was satisfied with just fists and feet clashing, and they began to use techniques imbued with spiritual pressure to attack.

After dodging the Monk's attack, Tsuna seized an opportunity, using his left hand to condense a large hand with his spiritual pressure to grab the Monk, while his right hand, wielding a lion-shaped Armguard, opened its maw and spun out a huge fireball.

White Hand and Burning Supernova.

The Tsuna, caught off guard, was turned into a target by Monk; shooting at a fixed target is never a mistake.

The enormous fireball slammed directly into the Monk's face, then exploded, its domineering spiritual pressure engulfing everything around it.

Strangely, there was no joy on Tsuna's face. There was no doubt that the Burning Supernova hit its target, but Tsuna felt that the Monk had not been truly harmed.

Tsuna swung his sword forcefully, unleashing a burst of spiritual pressure that dispersed the aftershocks of the explosion. Just as he expected, the place was empty.

Tsuna immediately released a burst of spiritual pressure, and on a distant hill, he found the Monk. Without thinking, Tsuna immediately Flash Step there.

From afar, Tsuna saw the Monk kneading something with a dark, gooey object. When Tsuna looked over, the Monk even gave him a provocative Tsuna.

XBURNER!

A long-range beam of light shot towards the Monk. This time, Tsuna realized the problem: the moment XBURNER hit the Monk, the Monk turned into a puddle of ink and disappeared.

Substitution Jutsu?

Tsuna thought of a signature ninjutsu from another world. It looked somewhat different, but the Monk did indeed use ink to take the hits in place of his body, so in principle it was no different from the Substitution Jutsu.

After eliminating that booster, Tsuna's senses told him that the Monk's figure had reappeared around him. One, two, three...

Nearly ten Monk appeared around Tsuna at the same time. It seems that the Monk are no longer satisfied with simply using ink to erase names, but have started to use ink to play tricks.

Tsuna laughed. From his perspective, the Monk's actions were indeed a bit ridiculous. This kind of illusion worked on others, but it had no effect on Tsuna. If he wanted to, he would definitely be able to find the Monk's true identity.

Hyper Intuition!

In a flash, Tsuna appeared where the Monk was, and punched him down on the Monk.

The Monk stood with his palms together, exchanging a blow with Tsuna, and said with some surprise, "It seems you have a power I don't know about, but unfortunately, you're still too slow!"

Four dark figures appeared beside the Monk, clearly created by him using ink, but they did not resemble the Monk at all.

Were they other members of the Zero Squad? Even though they were just small, dark-skinned figures, Tsuna recognized who those four were. What was the Monk trying to do by fabricating these four people?

"Thanks to you, I've developed a new ability. Now I'll show you!" the Monk said through gritted teeth. Since the establishment of the Soul King Palace, when had he ever been so embarrassed? Situations that could usually be crushed by simply bringing out parts of the Soul King were now ineffective against Tsuna.

After his ability failed on Tsuna, the Monk began to consider new uses for his power. Since it didn't work on Tsuna, why not just not use it on him at all?

Having absorbed parts of the Soul King, the Monk is now the Soul King's representative in the world. He used a portion of the Soul King's Power as his bones and the blackness he controlled to create his physical body, and the bodies of the four Zero Squad members appeared before him.

However, even so, these four people are not much better than the shadowy figures the Monk used to disguise himself. There is still a crucial step to be taken: giving them names!

The Monk held two fingers together, using them as a brush, and quickly sketched four names in front of him: Ōetsu Nimaiya, Kirinjī Tenshirō, Yachiru Unohana, and Shurata Senjumaru!

The Monk imprinted four names into the bodies of four dark figures, and after being given names, the four opened their eyes simultaneously.

"Um?"

Kirinjī Tenshirō, who was helping to protect Soul Society, stopped in his tracks, and Unohana Retsu also stopped and looked at him strangely.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong with your health?" Although that's what he asked, Unohana Retsu clearly didn't take the second half of his sentence seriously.

Which Bleach would have a physical problem? Unohana Retsu didn't believe that Kirinj's body would have a problem. After all, he was the Bleach who taught her how to return to the Dao.

Kirinj's smile was somewhat strained as he forced a smile and said, "I feel a bit exhausted. You go and carry out your mission. My body is fine, don't worry about me."

Unohana Retsu gave Kirinj a deep look. The safety of Soul Society was indeed more important now, so she could only let Kirinj rest where he was and continue to command the members of the Fourth Division.

The same thing happened to Yachiru Unohana, and it was even more serious; while running, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Kirio Hikifune, what's wrong?" Hiyori asked anxiously as she helped Yachiru Unohana up. The two had met after Yachiru Unohana entered Seireitei, and Hiyori had been by her side the whole time.

"Hiyori, don't worry, I'm fine."

Listening to Yachiru Unohana's explanation, Hiyori was still worried, her pale face showing no signs of being alright.

"Go do what you're supposed to do, Vice-Captain Hiyori!"

Under Yachiru Unohana's serious tone, Hiyori reluctantly gritted her teeth and led her team away.

This is the power of names. The Monk forcibly bestowed these names upon the Zero Squad members he created, directly stripping the original owners of most of their power and allowing the shadow Zero Squad to obtain the true power of the Zero Squad members.

From the moment they opened their eyes, the Black Shadow Zero Squad became the true Zero Squad.

Tsuna was somewhat confused by the Monk's actions. If he wanted to call upon the members of the Zero Squad to fight alongside him, wouldn't it be better to just use real people?

Even if Ōetsu Nimaiya were to die, the Monk could easily resurrect Ōetsu Nimaiya by calling his name. Are these imposters really more useful than the real thing?

It's much easier to use. Real people have their own thoughts, while the shadowy figures created by the Monk are entirely his creations. These shadowy figures, the Zero Squad members, completely obey the Monk's orders and have no other thoughts.

"Do you know why the Zero Squad's promotions aren't based on strength?" The monk, seemingly confident of victory, was in Monk spirits. "That's because I can use the inventions I created!"

The Monk opened his mouth wide, and the black shadow he named Yachiru Unohana poured into his stomach, causing the Monk's muscles to swell violently.

The soul-transforming project of the Monk, symbolized by the Yachiru Unohana of food, made his already powerful body even stronger.

Shutara Senjumaru then transformed into a jet-black Daoist robe, which draped over the Monk's body. The new Shinigami Uniform provided the Monk with enhanced defensive capabilities.

Kirinj transformed into a pair of wooden clogs, which were trodden on by the Monk. The ropes of the clogs were made of flowing spring water, while the soles were formed by extremely fast lightning.

Finally, there is the Sword God Ōetsu Nimaiya, whose role is the simplest. A Zanpakuto made of black jade appears in the Monk's hand, and the sword shape is the most basic Asauchi form.

Tsuna could sense that the revamped Monk was even stronger.

In the next instant, his body moved faster than his mind; Tsuna whirled around and elbowed the Monk who had launched the sneak attack.

"Oh? In this form, you can keep up with the power of lightning?" The Monk smiled amusedly, transforming into several afterimages around Tsuna and attacking Tsuna together.

The sounds of weapons clashing continued one after another. Tsuna kept up with the Monk's speed with just his physical reflexes, completely relying on his instincts—this was Tsuna's fighting instinct.

With a the Roar, the gigantic Natsu, formed from the Sky Flame, enveloped Tsuna and, like a cat swatting a toy, shattered the Monk's afterimage in a few swift movements.

"What a lovely pet."

The Monk dusted off his robe. Natsu's attack inevitably struck him, but thanks to Yachiru Unohana's enhanced physique and the robe transformed from Shutara Senjumaru, the Monk was unharmed.

Just as the Monk was preparing to launch a second attack, a sudden ripple appeared in the space, and a cold and beautiful woman, coughing up blood, flew out of thin air.

Her body was covered with stitched wounds. She rolled around on the ground several times, her face pale, and she lay helplessly on the ground looking at the Monk with a face full of resentment.

"Monk..."

Lying on the ground was none other than Shura-do Senjumaru. She had been fighting well in her Bankai space when she suddenly felt weak all over.

The outcome was predictable. Without power, Senjumaru was no match for his enemy. After only a brief resistance, he was severely injured by Urahara Kisuke and couldn't even maintain his Bankai, flying back to his original position.

Senjumaru's Bankai released, and Urahara Kisuke and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto returned to Soul Society together.

Crack! The sky split open even faster this time.

"Seriously, what happened? Another world-shaking spiritual pressure..." Ichigo's archery movements quickened.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto frowned, glanced at the sky, and said calmly, "Urahara Kisuke, withdraw your power and go help others."

"Understood, Captain-Commander." Urahara pressed down his hat, returned to his original appearance, and vanished in a flash.

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto glanced in the direction of Tsuna and the Monk, but did not disturb them. Instead, he slowly walked to Senjumaru's side and picked Senjumaru up with one hand.

"It's best if we don't interfere with their battle."

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto led Senjumaru toward the outer edge of the battlefield. With just one glance, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto realized that the current battle between Tsuna and the Monk was beyond his ability to get involved.

Senjumaru did not resist. She knew this was the best choice. Although she could be resurrected in the future, she did not want to be crushed to death by the aftermath of the battle.

Senjumaru's hair ornament had fallen off at some point, and beneath her disheveled hair lay resentment towards the Monk. With her intelligence, how could she not realize that the Monk had stolen her power?

Promotion to the Zero Squad, guardian of the Soul King, eternal and endless life—these are all just the Monk's words!

Everything was for the purpose of making the members of the Zero Squad a reserve force for him, the Monk!

This is why the Monk used a substitute; he wanted the members of the Zero Squad to know his purpose, so they wouldn't cooperate with him willingly...